On TV, Honduran Generals Explain Their Role in Coup

August 5, 2009
On TV, Honduran Generals Explain Their Role in Coup
By GINGER THOMPSON

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — For the past month, a steady drumbeat of government images on the airwaves and on front pages has tried to convey to Hondurans that this country has not experienced a military coup.

On Tuesday, however, television viewers could have been forgiven for thinking that is exactly what had happened.

The five generals at the head of the Honduran armed forces made a rare appearance on national television to explain their role in the ouster in late June of President Manuel Zelaya, and to respond to charges that they acted in defense of the country’s elite.

In language that often veered into confessional, they repeated that they did not act to take sides in the political fight that had polarized the country, but out of obedience to the law. And they said they were confident that history would judge them as patriots for their actions.

The more they spoke, however, the more they showed how concerned they were that their image had been damaged by their actions, and the clearer it became that they continued to play a leading role in Honduran politics, nearly three decades since the end of military rule.

“They call us golpistas,” said Gen. Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, the head of the armed forces, using the Spanish word to describe leaders of a coup. “If that’s what we were, we would have called a national emergency and detained all of those who are out there causing trouble.”

Yet troubles have mounted for the military since troops detained Mr. Zelaya and loaded him onto a plane leaving the country five weeks ago. He was detained on charges that he was trying to change the Constitution in order to extend his time in power.

Military officials have been feeling increasingly isolated, as those who support Mr. Zelaya accuse them of being traitors and those who support the de facto regime, led by Roberto Micheletti, distance themselves from the decision to expel the president.

“In the end, there is a chance that the civilians will all kiss and make up, and the military is going to be held as the bad guys,” said a high-ranking official in the defense ministry, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the military’s position. “These guys are worried. They are worried about going to jail.”

On Tuesday morning, the military defended itself. For an hour and a half, the five camouflage-clad generals said their actions were aimed at defending the Constitution from a president who threatened to do away with it. Seated on a darkened set, the generals described themselves as men of humble beginnings, and said that as such, they would never act against the most vulnerable.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/world/americas/05honduras.html?_r=1&ref=world